


The Coming Light of Dawn

by DizzyDrea



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-02
Updated: 2010-07-02
Packaged: 2017-10-27 03:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/291354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDrea/pseuds/DizzyDrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the dawn continued to fill their world with its bright, healing light, he knew real hope again. The dawn wasn't just bringing a new day. It was bringing a new way of life, free of fear and full of joy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Coming Light of Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> I'd been reading through the books again, in advance of the opening of the last movies last fall. When I got to the end of Book 7, I felt oddly unsatisfied, when I hadn't felt that way when reading through the first time. I can only think it must be because there's nothing to connect the last scene of the last chapter and the epilogue. So, I set out to write something to fill a small bit of that gap. It's not much, but it leaves me feeling better, if nothing else.
> 
> Harry Potter and all its particulars is the property of J. K. Rowling, Warner Bros, Bloosmbury Publishing, Arthur A. Levine Books and a lot of other people who aren't me. I'm doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

Harry Potter descended the stairs slowly, each step putting him farther and farther from the burdens he'd carried what felt like all his life. Beside him, his two best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger walked at the same slow pace. Every few steps they would pass through a patch of early morning sunlight. Some were windows that had been blown out of the great castle. Some were holes in its walls. The light flowing through them illuminated the truly devastating truth that their beloved school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had been nearly destroyed only hours before.

Nearly.

They'd averted a disaster, but the crisis wasn't over yet, despite the celebration currently going on in the Great Hall. Though Lord Voldemort had been destroyed, some of his followers were still at large, having fled the battle rather than face capture or death.

Harry knew that it would take years to rebuild the wizarding world. They had lost many good people in the fight, too many to name, and he found he didn't want to, lest the grief press in too soon. These brief moments of joy had been well earned by the survivors, but they would be fleeting, and he was reluctant to give them up sooner than he had to.

He'd lived.

He'd lived and Voldemort had died.

He hadn't really expected to survive, not really. He'd spent far too much time in Professor Trelawney's attic room listening to her predict his death about a hundred times a term to put much stock in prophecy. By now he'd grown quite immune to it.

Still, he'd been a seventh year student, and Voldemort was the most powerful dark wizard the world had ever seen. And though he had a few bits of his own powerful magic, he'd simply not believed it would be enough. Not until the end, when he saw the fear in Voldemort's eyes. And when at last the Dark Lord lay dead, and he, Harry Potter stood, still alive, he'd almost not believed it. He'd thought perhaps he'd died and then just risen again as a ghost, as Professor Binns had done all those years ago.

But as they descended the stairs from the Headmaster's office, the real truth was sinking in.

He'd lived.

And perhaps that was reason enough to celebrate. He'd lived. They all had. Still, he just didn't have it in him to re-enter the Great Hall and hear people cheering and congratulating him again. He was tired. More tired than he thought he'd ever been.

As they descended the marble staircase into the Entrance Hall, Harry stopped a few steps from the bottom. Ron and Hermione kept walking until they'd reached the bottom and realized their friend wasn't with them.

They turned and looked up to find him standing there, gazing out the doors to the grounds beyond.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Ron asked as he walked back up a couple of steps.

When Harry didn't respond, Ron looked behind him to where Hermione stood. She matched his worried look with one of her own. Taking the steps, she came level with Ron and reached out to touch Harry on the arm.

"Harry?"

He shook his head and looked down at his two friends. He gave a ghost of a smile as he said, "I'm alright."

"You're sure?" Hermione asked. She was still worried.

"Will you do me a favor?" Harry asked, turning to Ron.

"Anything," Ron said.

"Will you go and see if Ginny will come out here?" Harry asked.

Ron looked to Hermione, then back to Harry, ghosting a smile. "Sure, mate."

Harry, not waiting for Ron to leave, brushed past his two friends, dropping the Invisibility Cloak on the stairs as he headed for the doors to the Entrance Hall. He stopped in the open doorway and just stood, looking out on the grounds.

Ron again looked at Hermione. Her expression still showed worry, but her eyes shone with understanding. He'd been through a lot, they all had. But now was not the time to count losses. He smiled, then kissed her on the forehead and headed for the Great Hall.

~o~

Ron stood in the doorway of the Great Hall, surveying the room. Everyone was still pretty much where they'd left them what seemed like hours ago. He had a feeling this party would go on all day, but he couldn't complain.

He spotted his sister still sitting with her head on her mother's shoulder. Ron made for their table and settled himself on the bench with his back to the table.

He leaned in close and brushed a lock of her hair off her shoulder. "You okay, Ginny?"

Ginny raised her head and looked around. When she saw who it was, she gave a ghost of a smile. "I'm okay, Ron."

Mrs. Weasley, who'd noticed that her daughter's head was no longer pillowed on her shoulder, glanced around to see why. When she saw Ron, she reached around Ginny's back and squeezed his arm, reassuring both him and herself with a touch and a smile.

Ron smiled at his mother, then turned his attention back to his sister. "You feel up to a little walk?" he asked quietly. "There's someone who'd like to see you."

Ginny glanced at her mother, who'd gone back to her conversation, then back at Ron. She frowned, then nodded and rose. Ron stood as well, but before they could move away, Mrs. Weasley had grabbed Ginny's arm.

"I'll be back, Mom," she said, looking down at her mother and patting her hand.

Mrs. Weasley looked between her two youngest children, her brow knitted in worry. Then her expression cleared and her eyes softened. She nodded, squeezing Ginny's arm before she let go and went back to the conversation at the table.

Ginny turned and followed Ron out of the Great Hall.

~o~

Ginny and Ron emerged from the Great Hall, and she paused just over the threshold, staring across the Entrance Hall. The doors had been blown off their hinges and stood at odd angles, looking battered and worn. She spotted Harry standing in the doorway, stock still. It was the first time she'd seen him since it had all ended, and she gave a little sob at seeing him still alive and well after everything that had happened.

Harry, hearing the sound, turned around. But all he saw was a red blur as it flew across the Entrance Hall. Then something crashed into him; something with a cloud of red hair and soft, warm skin. Ginny.

And then she was squeezing him. Squeezing the stuffing out of him. He held her for a moment, then pulled her back. He cupped her face in his hand, seeing tears streaking down her cheeks.

"I'm alright, Ginny," he said softly.

She reached up and laid her hand over his, her tears leaving tracks in the smudges of dirt still clinging to her face. Then, suddenly they were kissing. It was fiery and passionate, full of hunger and need, and tasting of relief and joy. When they'd parted once more, she clung to him, as if holding him as tightly as she could would keep him from disappearing from before her very eyes.

Harry pulled back once more and glanced over her head. Hermione hadn't moved. She'd sat down on the marble staircase when Ron headed to the Great Hall. Now that he'd emerged with Ginny in tow, he'd taken a seat beside her. They were leaning against each other, her head pillowed on his shoulder, their hands intertwined. The thought occurred to Harry that they were exactly where they belonged. It warmed his heart some to know that his two best friends had found their way to each other.

Looking back down at Ginny, he could see her still staring at him as though he were one of the school's ghosts. "Let's go outside," he said quietly. When she frowned, he tipped his head in the direction of the stairs. "Don't think we need an audience, do we?"

Ginny glanced over her shoulder and saw Ron and Hermione watching them with identical smiles on their faces. She smiled back, then turned back to Harry and nodded. He took her hand in his and led the way down the steps.

Ron and Hermione watched them go.

"Think he'll ask her to marry him, now it's all over?" Ron asked.

Hermione smiled. "He'll want her to finish school first," she said, showing her practical side. "Besides, this is Harry we're talking about. When have you ever known him to do anything before the last minute?"

"Do you think there'll be a term next year?" he asked, giving a ghost of a smile at her apt description of their friend.

"I think the Ministry will want to get things back to normal as soon as possible," she said.

"And knowing Harry, he'll probably want to be out there with the rest of the Ministry officials, hunting down the Death Eaters," Ron said, finishing her thought.

"Will you go?" she asked him, pulling back to look at him anxiously.

"Yeah," he said softly. "But I expect you'll be out there right beside me, so I'm not worried."

Hermione smile a brilliant smile. "Have I ever told you I love you, Ron Weasley?"

"Nope," he said, his smile matching her own. "But I don't mind hearing it. And just for the record, I loved you first."

Hermione began to splutter, until Ron laid a hand to her cheek. "You don't have to be first or best at everything. Just know that I love you. That's enough."

She smiled again. "Yeah, it is."

~o~

The devastation was just as bad outside the castle as it was inside. Great gouges had been scoured out of the front lawn, and the gates at the end of the path were no longer there. All around them lay the rubble of what used to be a grand and majestic castle. But the sun was rising now, and the birds had come out of hiding to begin their song. All around them there were signs of life, as if nature itself understood that Voldemort had been defeated and a new age was dawning.

Harry pulled Ginny along until they'd reached the tree near the lake that he, Ron and Hermione had often sat beneath in their younger days, debating the ills of Potions or who would win the school's Quidditch Cup.

He pulled her to him once more, and they stood that way for some time, simply enjoying the freedom to be together. He could hardly believe it had been almost a year since they'd shared some of his most magical and wonderful days. Being with her, even for a few short weeks, had given him the taste of something that he'd never had: the hope of a family of his own.

But Voldemort's return had put an end to those dreams. He'd known he might not survive; known that he'd be the Dark Lord's first target in the coming war. He'd broken up with her to protect her, but there had been nights when he'd regretted that choice, if only so that he'd have her with him to support him and help keep him together when it felt like the whole world was coming apart.

But they had time now, all the time in the world. Voldemort lay dead, and life would continue on. If nothing else, they had that.

He pulled back slightly and looked down into Ginny's face, the one face he'd so longed to see over the last year. He could see fresh tears on her cheeks and in her eyes, and it nearly broke his heart.

Reaching up, he brushed away the tears, smudging the dirt staining her cheeks. He chuckled a bit at that, causing her to frown again.

"Sorry," he said. "You're just a bit smudged. I guess we could all do with a clean-up, after everything."

Her eyes welled with fresh tears. "Oh, Harry," she said softly, "I was so scared. I thought I'd lost you. We all did."

"I was scared, too," he said. "I thought I was going to die, and all I could think about was you and everyone else, never seeing anyone again. But I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere."

"And I hadn't told you," she went on as if he hadn't spoken. "I hadn't told you, and all I could think was that you'd die, and you'd never know."

Harry frowned. "I'd never know what?"

She looked up at him, really looked at him. He looked tired, but she could already tell that he seemed lighter somehow. As if the burden he'd always carried had been lifted. He was once again the Harry Potter that she'd first loved all those years ago.

She laid her hand on his cheek. "I love you, Harry Potter. I always have."

His face softened, and a smile lit his eyes. "I know. I think I've always known. I remember when you couldn't even talk to me because you had such a crush on me. Then you started dating Michael Corner, and I was quite sad because I thought that meant I'd lost my chance."

Ginny smiled. "I only dated him because I thought you'd never see me that way."

"Oh I saw you that way," Harry assured her. "And for those few wonderful weeks last year, I thought every dream I'd ever had had come true. I didn't say it then, but I felt it from the first: I do love you, so very much."

Now it was Ginny's turn to light up. She pulled him to her and once again tried to hug the stuffing out of him. Harry laughed, the first truly carefree laugh he'd had in far too long. It was like winning the Daily Prophet Drawing.

They pulled back, and Ginny asked him the question burning in everyone's mind: "What's going to happen now?"

Harry gave a great sigh. "They'll have to put the Ministry back together first, I'd imagine. Then go after what's left of the Death Eaters, and who knows how long that'll take."

"You're going to go with them, aren't you?" she asked quietly.

He looked deep into her eyes. "I have to, Ginny. I need to finish what I started. I need to make sure they don't hurt anyone else."

"But don't you think they're going to just go into hiding, now that their master is dead?"

"I wish I knew," he said, giving a resigned sigh. "Some of them ran because they were afraid of what would happen to them if he died. But there were some who ran because they wanted to live to continue his work, in the hope that he's not really dead. Those are the ones I'm worried about."

He paused, then took another deep breath. "Ginny, I don't know how long it'll take, hunting down the last of the Death Eaters. Right now, all I want to do is stay here with you, but it's got to be done. I'm not going to ask you to marry me—"

But whatever else he would have said was lost. "You—what—I don't—after all I've—"

Harry laid a finger across her lips, effectively shutting off her sputtering. "Yet," he said. "I'm not going to ask you to marry me yet, even though I want to. You need to finish school, and I need to help the Ministry track down the Death Eaters. There's plenty of time for the rest."

Ginny pulled his hand from her mouth and laced her fingers with his, settling their joined hands between them. "Harry, after everything that's happened, how can you say there's plenty of time? What if you get hurt or worse while you're out there chasing down the Death Eaters?" He opened his mouth to respond, but she plowed on, not letting him speak. "I'm not asking you to run back to the castle this instant and marry me. But we didn't fight this war so we could keep putting off living. We fought it so that we could live. What's to say that we can't do both: you go help the Ministry while I finish school, and we can plan our future at the same time."

Harry pulled her close as he gazed out over the grounds. Signs of the fight were everywhere. Reminders of what they'd just been through.

The road ahead wasn't looking any better. The Ministry of Magic was in disarray. Rufus Scrimgeour was dead, and no one knew who would take over. And they'd lost a lot of Aurors and Magical Law Enforcement Agents in the fight. Those that were left were going to be stretched thin.

But the losses hadn't been as great as feared, and Harry took some comfort in that. There were still a lot of skilled wizards and witches who'd lived. They would work together to rebuild, and these people weren't the sort to let their guard down. Never again would their world be threatened this way. Harry knew they'd all see to that.

And in the meantime…he had lived. Maybe it was time to start living again.

Harry sighed and looked down at Ginny. "I guess I've just gotten so used to going from one task to the next, from one crisis to the next, that I forgot what happens when the tasks and crises are over."

"I know," Ginny said. "I was right there with you for most of them. I think we've all been doing the same thing. But Harry, if we keep putting off getting on with our lives, there'll never be a right time to do it, and we'll eventually just never do it."

"I guess that's why you're the smart one," Harry said, smiling.

Ginny beamed. "Just don't you forget it."

Harry looked deep into her eyes, getting lost in their chocolate brown depths. Gone was the sweet, scared little girl he once knew. Before him now stood a beautiful, confident woman. The woman of his dreams, if he were honest with himself.

He'd lived. And she'd lived. And he understood, for perhaps the first time, that they'd be living the rest of their lives together.

Suddenly, Harry smiled, like the sun coming out on a cloudy day. "I love you, Ginevra Weasley. Will you marry me?"

Ginny's smile nearly stretched off her face. "Yes!" she nearly shouted.

She crushed her lips to his, and they kissed until they were nearly dizzy with sensation.

When they finally parted, Harry said, "I wish I'd thought to do that sooner. A few more kisses like that'll have me fixed up right quick."

Ginny smirked at him, then reached up and kissed him gently, pulling back to look into his eyes. "I love you, Harry Potter."

It was Harry's turn to smile. "So, shall we go tell everyone the good news?"

"Nah," Ginny said, smiling and shaking her head. "They can wait. Right now, I'm right where I want to be."

Harry pulled her close, echoing the sentiment. As the dawn continued to fill their world with its bright, healing light, he knew real hope again. The dawn wasn't just bringing a new day. It was bringing a new way of life, free of fear and full of joy.

And Harry, for one, was glad he'd lived.

~Finis


End file.
